Living on our own!

[mscar111]

Originally Posted by bluesky42day

You definitely need to sit down & work out a budget as your number one priority. According to my calculations, a $615 apartment is out of your price range. You'd be much better off in a $400 a mo. situation, but then quality of life issues might come into play once you go too low for rent.

Basically if you're collectively earning $14.75/hr. & only work 30 hours a week then you're left with around $1500/mo. after taxes.

Let's say this:

Rent including water: $615
Gas (I don't have gas so I'm not exactly sure): $50
Modest amt of electricity: $70
Car Insurance:$80
Cheap Cell for her: $35
Modest amt of gas for your cars: $320
Modest food budget for 2: $400

This put's you at $1570 right here & those are all very modest figures & there is no wiggle room for luxuries like cable & internet let alone ever going to the dentist or getting an oil change.

I'm certainly not one to talk though, I moved out of my parents house as soon as I turned 18 & only had a part-time $7.40 an hour job at a dry cleaner in Goodlettsville & no car

I survived by eating about $10 worth of cheap fruit & vegetables every week from Artrips Market & staying with my friend's family for 8 months while she was off at college. I bought a 1988 Volvo & was on my way. But what I didn't have was a TV, a cell phone, furniture, money or a hot social life there for awhile. But my mental state was always positive & I worked hard & saved money, didn't go into debt & by the time I was 21 I upgraded to a nice Land Rover that I paid for myself & bought a house by myself at 22. I beat the odds & no one ever would have thought that when I was essentially homeless just a few years before that I would be able to do all of that on my own. So it can be done, you still can be successful, but you have a lot of struggles & dark days ahead of you if you move out on your own so you need to ask yourself what your motivation is & how bad you want it because I don't think love would have been enough to get me through that. My motivation was that I had to make it because I didn't have any alternatives.

Just food for thought.

Courtney

I think u went way over for the gas for our cars... if we move into the apartment I want its going to be 2 miles up the road to BOTH our work and 15 mins to school which we both will be taking online classes mostly and only going to school twice a week. we are both going to try to take an act prep class to boost our act score... which will help us out with grants and all. also we have some money to fall back on with student loans.

we will be saving up money for 5 months before we move and probably have $4000-$4500 saved up between the 2 of us.. and taxes for my work is about 10 bucks out of my 2 week pay check.

Gas is going to be going up here in the summer to $5 a gallon (what I hear) but still we are so close... I think its going to be hard in the beginning but we are both looking at becoming managers at our jobs which will help us out greatly!

[bluesky42day]

^$40 a week for gas seemed pretty modest to me, especially if it goes as high as $5 But you already have a car & so does she so no one knows but you how much I overestimated your gas consumption. I gave it a go, you're going to do what you're going to do & I sincerely wish you the best of luck!

Courtney

[mscar111]

Originally Posted by bluesky42day

^$40 a week for gas seemed pretty modest to me, especially if it goes as high as $5 But you already have a car & so does she so no one knows but you how much I overestimated your gas consumption. I gave it a go, you're going to do what you're going to do & I sincerely wish you the best of luck!

Courtney

lol you said $320 a month xD... even if u put down $40 a week (thats how much I pay at the moment and I live 35 mins from work) that would only come up to $160 a month.. maybe a typo? :P

[foxywench]

bluesky was saying $40 a week EACH = $160 x 2...
your running 2 cars so you have to take into account gas budget for BOTH vehicles...

being close to amenities is great and will help lower your gas budget, but rememebr your going to have to budget in any running back and forth to grocery stores, social time, ect as well...

id presonally budget $25 a week per car minimum, thats 5 gallons of gas per week if the gas prices hit the $5 mark (which i wouldnt be suprised at) assuming an average milage of around 21mpg round town thats 100miles per week.

if youve got the savings and done your math and realy want this thats great, but remember, things can change, jobs arent permminent EVER and unfortunatly relationships arnt essicarily perminent either...
make sure you can carry the rent and utlilites on your own for a few months should something happen and look for a short term lease/rental as a just in case.

[bluesky42day]

Originally Posted by foxywench

bluesky was saying $40 a week EACH = $160 x 2...
your running 2 cars so you have to take into account gas budget for BOTH vehicles...

^What she said

Thanks Foxy! We were budgeting for 2 so obviously I calculated for 2.

Courtney

[Crakaveli]

go for a no contract cell service like page plus, straight talk, pure talk, virgin etc.

[airen123]

I went without cable for the first 6 months living here...it wasn't as hard as I thought. Rent redbox DVDs if you need a fix.
Good luck.

[Tunky]

we have four kids ages 19-26 and none of them have cable right now. they say they don't miss it at all because they can watch so much online if they really want to.

[foxywench]

cable/dish itslef is not as important as many in our age group seem to think it is...

internet kind of makes cable tv obsoleete at this point lol.
a word on the 'pay as you go" phones...
ive been checking them out, dont know if they're cheaper in tn but they dont have the pay as you go that were around years ago, now, again at least here, you pay your $50+ for your phone and first month with something like 250 mins...it then costs you that a month + any extra minutes you want...
i was looking into it and it works out cheaper for me to get a contract phone with free calling to in network (or a family/frineds plan) than it was for a "pay as you go" or no contract phone...also if you look at the cost per minute, it ends up being double or soetimes more per min for many of the no contract/pay as you go style plans.

so thats definatly somethign to be aware of...
and on the cellphone note, being able to surf the web, unlimited text ect...put serious thought into do you REALY need it...is texting such a big part of your life that you need to add $20+ a month to your bill ect.

i think if you (op) put alot of serious thought into the nessecities...(ie cable, eating out, big brand names ect) you might be able to make this work for you...
but i still feel you need to be able to support the apartment ALONE for a couple of months as a just in case.

[CraigCreek]

If you're close to school and work, use a bicycle rather than a car for transportation - save gas money big time this way.

Another consideration is that while Tennessee has no state income tax, other taxes are quite high to compensate. Be sure you budget accordingly.

Young love is wonderful, but - (sorry to have to include that "but"!) you are both young and will grow and mature and change during your college years. In a couple of years, you may find that you are very different from one another and that your life-goals have changed and are no longer compatible. Don't get so tightly involved with one another via co-housing, etc. that a later unanticipated breakup causes both of you or either or you more pain and difficulty than it unavoidably must.

Best wishes to you...